'the boys' are back

yes, 'the boys' are back home and delighting in the freedom to go whereever they want although a lot of the time yesterday they wound around our ankles and cried to be cuddled! marmalade is a big, fat, ginger cushion as he always is after a stay at the pension. as for us, we didn't put on as much weight as we thought we had, given all the panini, fried fish, pasta, pizza.... that we put away over the twenty days. i noticed the people of southern italy are definitely curvier than in the north. the younger generation whizz round on scooters, their bottoms plump upon the cushioned seats. it is hardly surprising as in every town, village and motorway cafe there are rows of panini waiting for you! unlike buying a baguette/sandwich in france it is not put into a bag but wrapped in a serviette (with an offer to heat it first), an invitation or acknowledgement that you are going to stuff your face with it straight away! fillings are variations on a theme; speck, ham, tomato, mozzarella and the bread came in many different forms but with only one flavour; bland and dry and very hard to chew and swallow. claggy, i called it! as panini was the order of the day for lunch, a quick pit stop en route for the next destination, i got into the habit of losing one half of the bread and eating the rest as an open sandwich. back home i have tried to grill the aubergines from the garden in a similar way to the ones i ate in restaurants but not very successfully. however, with some toast and some oil i am eating the results as bruschetta, prolonging the holiday experience!